Volkswagen’s $15-billion settlement over emissions cheating gets preliminary OK
A $15-billion settlement over Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal cleared a key hurdle Tuesday, with a federal judge in San Francisco giving preliminary approval to a deal that includes an option for owners to have the carmaker buy back their vehicles.
Attorneys for Volkswagen owners sought approval from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who is overseeing consumer lawsuits and government allegations that the German automaker’s diesel engines cheated on U.S. emissions tests.
The terms call for the car company to spend up to $10 billion buying back or repairing about 475,000 Volkswagen and Audi vehicles with 2-liter diesel engines and paying their owners an additional $5,100 to $10,000 each. Details about the vehicle repairs have not been finalized.
The judge’s decision allows attorneys to notify vehicle owners of the terms, including using a settlement website to determine how much compensation they would get. The owners could object and opt out, enabling them to pursue legal action against Volkswagen on their own.
Breyer, who is expected to make a final decision in October, has kept close tabs on the negotiations and praised the efforts of attorneys and a court-appointed settlement master who helped broker the deal.
“I don’t know that I need to make any grand observations about the settlement,” he said. “It appears in your presentation today as it appeared when you filed your documents that an enormous effort has been devoted to achieving a series of goals.”
The settlement, proposed last month, also includes $2.7 billion for unspecified environmental mitigation, plus $2 billion to promote zero-emissions vehicles.
“Volkswagen appreciates the constructive engagement of all the parties … as the settlement approval process moves forward,” the company said Tuesday in a statement.
Full coverage: Volkswagen’s emissions scandal »
The models included in the settlement are the VW Beetle (model years 2013-2015), VW Golf (2010-2015), VW Jetta (2009-2015) and Audi A3 (2010-2013 and 2015).
The settlement does not cover about 85,000 Volkswagens and Audis with 3-liter engines that also are caught up in the emissions scandal.
Volkswagen has acknowledged that the cars were programmed to turn on emissions controls during government lab tests and turn them off while on the road. Investigators found that the cars emitted more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxides, which can cause respiratory problems.
The company still faces billions of dollars in fines and penalties and possible criminal charges.
Times staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
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UPDATES:
11 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional information.
This article was originally published at 10 a.m.
